Mana Island in May

May came along in the blink of an eye. We had family come over again - what a treat.

We went for a bike ride - caught the train to Waikanae and rode back along Waikanae river, stopped for some gear malfunctions, sauntered down the expressway to Paekakariki - our first stop for lunch.  Then with the northerly behind us (what a treat!) we had a easy ride along the coast and over the hills and through suburbia.  A couple of quiet weekends - doing a bit of cooking and tidying for our family visit at the end of the month.  Can't wait.

Some more nice walks - over to Transmission Gully to see the progress on the new motorway.  In some ways pretty amazing, but in others the landscape has changed for good in not a particularly positive way.  We will do a longer walk over there when we are prepared to navigate a bigger stream than we can jump.

Then it was time to visit Mana Island.  A lovely sunny windless day.  How rare is that in May? We spent a while standing in the car park - one of the volunteers was late - something quite normal I understand.  But who can argue with a volunteer who gives their time to plant an island and nurture wildlife?  We met a couple from Makara who have started a "gecko" retreat.  Well, they have built the homes with DoC permission.  They aren't allowed to catch geckos from the wild, or buy them, so they only way to grow their farm is to be given them by others who haven't caught them in the wild or bought them.  So, the farm isn't growing very fast and they have to date 5 geckos and none of them breeding pairs.  But lucky geckos - a safe, busy environment for them to live and they are being protected as many of them are rare.

The boat trip over was bumpy.  We stood outside breathing in the salt air, looking at the mainland from a different perspective.  Hanging on tight, lifting bags from the water that came under the rails and avoiding "drunken" sailors from treading on toes, we were rather glad when we arrived.  After a talk from the DoC ranger and his family we headed off for our guided tour.  It was a gentle walk up the hill to the top -although the guide described is as quite steep - probably because there were a few oldies in the group.  Surely, Harry and I don't fit into that group yet!!

We heard the stories of how the bush had been planted - saw photos of the 1970's when the land was bare with a few sheep living off the inhospitable land.  The bush has regenerated well but now they need to cut some down as Takahe like to live in scrub.  Since Takahe never lived on the island without catching a boat - I detected a slight level of frustration with cutting bush down.  Anyway, it is a major breeding ground for Takahe - when the babies are about 6 months they get shipped down to the west coast.  Here older Takahe foster them and teach them to root for food in the different terrain with more deep rooted plants.  We humans should take a leaf out of the Takahe book to care for our children.  Once the babies have grown and can look after themselves they are taken to Kahurangi National Park to make their home.  A fantastic story of many volunteers helping to save one of our national treasures.

And then there is the gannets.  A concrete family of them, with the squawk of a gannet trying to attract the flock back to the island - where once there lived a colony.  No such luck so far, except for the one gannet a wee while back who arrived and fell in love with one of the concrete ones. Unfortunately, no babies sprung from that relationship.  Given they are migratory and teenagers fly to Australia for a few years - there is always hope.

Along the west side of the island is a nice place for lunch looking over the sea and to the north is Kapiti.  Here we heard about the rare flax weevil (no photos as I wasn't allowed to dig for them).  They were rehomed from the South Island and have started to kill the flax?  Why?  Down south they lived in harmony chewing the roots of the flax - but leaving their plant source alive - enough for a rainy day at least.  Here the flaxes have drooped and the leaves are dead.  Scientists now know in the South Island there is a fungi that lives in the ground by flaxes which keeps a natural balance and kills a few hungry weevils.  So now the fungi is being transported over to the Mana Island flaxes.  Another example of how human intervention can ruin the natural balance of our environment.  On the way back the wind turned to the south and we were glad of our hats and coats. We enjoyed it - a worthwhile trip.

 

A rugby game at the Stadium with Alison - members stand no less.  We ate our meals at a table shared by 3 locals who attend every game in the stand. One was from the UK (still had his accent but had been here for a while).  Before I started my dinner (burger and chips) he asked to have some chips to mop up his gravy.   Thought he could have waited until I had finished, but he had 2 lots before he realised I wanted to eat some.  Maybe I should have just said "no" but there were rather a large number and that would have been a bit rude since we gate crashed their table.  The price one has to pay!!

And then it was time for our families to arrive.  3 grand children and 4 adults descended on our house.  What a wonderful 3 weeks of being together.  Trips to the zoo and up Kau Kau, brunches and chill out time.

And welcome to the world little Max.

Wellington on a still winters night.

And I finished some more knitting.

Zealandia on a summers day after brunch with Jill and Graham.

And I went for a fun walk on the way to the car one day - through Northland - the steepest steps I have ever been on I think.

Walking and catching up with school friends

April began with a "blast from the past".  Brian whom I used to go to college with contacted me through facebook.  Although, I don't use facebook a lot, and there is a lot of negativity around the platform at the moment - it does have some advantages - like perhaps finding people you haven't seen for 50 or so years.  Harry and I went up to Paraparaumu and had a lovely afternoon wandering around our old haunts and catching up.

We met our new little grandson for the first time and I enjoyed giving him his car rug (which is a tad too small given how quickly he is growing).

We have been for a few new walks, one round Eastbourne where we clambered over a fallen tree get to the path - hate going back when there is a way forward - as a child I had a book called "Where there is a will there is a way".  Can't remember anything about the book but have always remembered the title - and so did that US president who shall remain nameless in the news the other day. Also had lunch with David and Marion and a walk around Waikanae over a path we hadn't been up over the hills.

We had a little hedgehog walk across our deck one evening.  I went to see how it managed to get down the steps.  I pictured him rolling up and bouncing down, but no nature has given him the ability to hop from one to another.  He spent a while noseying around the grass looking for insects and the next time I looked he had gone.  Pity - I was looking forward to having a pet hedgehog and had even got to the point of imagining a little home sitting under a tree somewhere.

March 2019

It's the 9th of March and the first weekend we have had at home for a while. We are lying in bed reading the paper and of course blogging. The summery weather has gone. Its darker in the mornings, the northerly is blowing continuously and on Thursday the rain came down in buckets. Considering how dry it has been it was a flood type situation which thankfully didn't appear to eventuate.

Mike and Connie arrived on Thursday afternoon and we went round to Don and Judy's for dinner. Their house is beginning to look empty as they move their stuff to the coast. We saw their new home on Saturday when we took Blake out to pick up Connie.  A picnic in the lounge thanks to Bakers Delight.  Mike has been telling Connie about his happy memories as a child spending time with Grandma Beth.  So, Connie was keen to see Grandma Beth and her my Granny's grave.  This was after a discussion about Tabby and her ashes in the box on Friday and Saturday morning.  After putting hydrangeas on both graves I hear Connie tell Blake on the way back to the car "When you get older you can decide when you die if you want to be buried or burnt and turned to mush".  That made me smile and felt good as I was feeling sad thinking how much Mum and my Granny would love to have met their grandchildren.   We enjoyed Connie practising her teaching skills with all Grandma Beth's teddies sitting happily on the stairs and enjoying maths instruction. The classroom expanded to the bedroom and I revisited my childhood days where I taught my toys anything from counting to trampoling.  I joined Connie in the class with the teddies and am sad to say I didn't get the prize for being the star pupil.

 We have done some nice walks recently - around Mt Vic and Plimmerton.

It was rather a busy day as we then drove over to Makara to see Jenny and John, their dog, ducks and eels.  We fed the animals, and then Jenny and John fed us afternoon tea.  Mike enjoyed talking to them about owning a lifestyle block.  It was Mike and Becks 7th wedding anniversary and we stopped on the way to Ohariu Farm where we took photos and remembered that special day 7 years ago.  Miss the bride - on that occasion tho!!

We had fish and chips and with Blake and Rebecca lazed around watching Mary Poppins. No dressing up this time but lots of singing and dancing.

Friday 15th dawned and no one would have foreseen the awful circumstances of that day - etched in the mind of New Zealanders for every.  50 people losing their lives in Christchurch.  The country is in mourning and most of the world is with us in saying how deplorable that the unspeakable could happen in New Zealand and to so many refugees who came here to escape pain and suffering in their own country.  It is a time for reflection and I think many others felt the same.  I decided to go to the memorial service at the Basin Reserve on Sunday evening.  I am glad I did.  With 10,000 or so others, we covered nearly every piece of grass and grandstand and stood united in our desire for peace.  It was confronting seeing police wearing guns, something I guess we might need to get used to in the future.

This week evidence of the heightened state of security is everywhere.  Work has a security guard standing (what a job - standing all day, doing nothing except looking for suspicious looking people) and parliament is guarded by policy - again with guns.  Confronting and disturbing.

I have walked home 3 times this week so far, it has been good for me to climb hills, reflect on what has happened and to try and find peace in our lovely blue harbour, green hills, blue sky and very balmy weather.  Harry's back is on the mend and he is starting to walk to meet me again.  Great - return to normality.

Travel club was on - a talk about touring Iran.  It reminded me so much of Spain - the landscapes, buildings, architecture.  I asked Harry if he would be interested in going "no way" was his response.  Might be another trip sometime with a friend.

We finished our vertical gardens - the big one looks great but the small ones has the plants that should grow upwards deciding to grow downwards.  That's nature for you.

February

It has been a busy month. Socially quiz night restarted, we had our first video night "Life of Brian", we have biked to numerous places like Paraparaumu, went to terracotta warriors and Madiba and walked up Mt Kau Kau more than once.

We took Blake to the zoo to see the new chimp enclosure and got back into our exercise regime. Biking to work, riding home in strong northerlies and walking home through Wadestown and the Bush and up the bridal path.

Then it turned into a sad month where we attended the funerals of Stewart Jessamine, Jago Profitt and Ernie Friedlander. We travelled twice to Napier to spend time in the hospital with Ernie and then to his memorial service. And in between a trip to New Plymouth. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and close friends.

It was also Wings over Wairarapa.  Harry went for the day and I had a fun day catching up with Nicky (her girls, rabbits, sheep, goats and dogs), Cheryl and Alison and John (they were house sitting in Carterton).  I returned back to the airport for the night show.  It started to pour - large drops sliding down the windows so I sat in the carpark waiting - deciding that this was a better option than sheltering under a small umbrella.  The show was quite good with acrobatic planes lit brightly and a small guy fawkes celebration.